Science instruction
The California science standards (PDF; 539 KB; 61pp.) focus on three areas: physical science, earth science, and life science. In grades six through eight, the science content standards emphasize one area of science each year. This organization supports greater depth of learning in each of the three areas and helps provide a solid foundation for high school-level science:
- Grade five—all three (page 14)
- Grade six—earth science focus (page 18)
- Grade seven—life science focus (page 22)
- Grade eight—physical science focus (page 26)
Each grade level and course level includes an Investigation and Experimentation (I&E) strand that incorporates student-initiated inquiry and experimentation. Students develop their own questions and perform investigations that address the content of the grade-level science standards. Instruction on the Investigation and Experimentation standards describe learning that "should be integral to, and directly and specifically support, the teaching of the content strands and disciplines."1
In The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2005 (PDF; Outside Source), the National Center for Education Statistics (otherwise known as NAEP [the National Association for Educational Progress]) reported that California’s fourth and eighth graders showed the largest increases for science achievement in the nation.2 However, the NAEP results showed that only 18 percent of eighth-grade students scored at proficient or above in science.
Superintendent Jack O’Connell responded to the news by saying,
While this is encouraging, we have much work to do to improve student proficiency in science if California is to lead in an era that increasingly demands higher levels of scientific knowledge. We’ve taken steps to focus more strongly on science instruction by expanding standards-based professional development for teachers to include science, and by adding science to our California Standards Tests for students in grades five, eight, and ten. California adopted new instructional materials in science in 2006. In addition, the California Mathematics and Science Grant Program funds several partnerships aimed at developing knowledge and instructional strategies of California teachers. While Hispanic and Asian students made significant achievement gains, an unacceptable achievement gap shows ethnic minorities, particularly African American students, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students lagging behind. We must focus strongly on closing that gap while aiming to increase the achievement of all groups of California students.3
The National Research Council (2006) issued a report on the need for a major overhaul in K-8 science education so that educators could concentrate on key concepts central to understanding science. The authors said that science standards are too broad, and science education fails to link concepts within a single year and from grade to grade. The report also said teachers need better training in how to apply current research. Apparently, focusing on a relatively small number of major concepts and gradually building on them works most effectively. The report, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (Outside Source), is available from the National Academies Press (Outside Source).
In the Spotlight
McCaffrey Middle School (Outside Source), Galt Joint Union Elementary School District. For several years, a seventh-grade class at McCaffrey Middle School conducted a study of salmon. Students hatched and raised salmon eggs in their classroom and worked with the California Fly Fishermen Association, California Department of Fish and Game, and the local office of Parks and Recreation to release salmon into local rivers. The teacher taught numerous standards-based lessons about the fish over several months. Students kept journals and carefully noted each day how the salmon hatchlings grew. They discussed changes in light of cell differentiation and evolution. As a culminating event, the class visited a local park to release salmon into the American River.
Course assessments indicate that the lessons were successful in conveying grade-level content knowledge. For example, 79 percent of students demonstrated proficiency on the standard for life science/evolution, and 81 percent of students tested proficient on the cell biology standards.
Willowside Middle School (Outside Source), Oak Grove Union Elementary School District. Eighth-grade students bred and raised endangered Mexican salamanders indigenous to their community. They studied the salamanders that live in the nearby habitat and proposed solutions to the many economic and political issues between environmentalists and developers. In collaboration with experts from the California Department of Fish and Game, the students participated in ongoing studies of local and regional salamander populations and helped to establish counting points in their area, gathering data, and relaying it to the scientists. Students created a map of salamander habitat in their area. They identified relationships, analyzed information, and theorized about what might encourage successful salamander colonies.
On a broader scale, students discussed examples of coexistence between endangered species and a growing human population. Students also studied the need for construction and development as human population increases. They identified the difficulties that arise from conflicting needs in society and evaluated benefits and costs of their proposed solutions to the local plight of the salamanders. In addition, they investigated cloning and genetic manipulation, discussing the controversy with responsible adults.
As a part of their study, the students met with such local governmental bodies as the school site council, the California Department of Fish and Game, the school board, and the county board of supervisors to inform and advise the representatives on a plan for increasing the protection of endangered species, including the local salamander, while respecting the needs of the growing human population.
These lessons address eighth grade science standard number nine: Investigation and Experimentation:
"Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will: a) plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis; b) evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data; c) distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test;"4
In addition, these lessons reinforce and build on learning from previous lessons in other subjects. For example, it incorporates content from history/social science standards: 8.3, 8.6, 8.7; English language arts standards: 1.1, 2.5; and life science standards: 6.7.5, 6.7.6, 7.2.7.
Technology applications for science. Many teachers enhance lab experiments by using science probes, simulations, virtual dissection, virtual field trips, podcasts, videos, and presentation or publication of student work. In addition, students can learn more about science through online research. Technology standards are embedded in the Science Content Standards (PDF; 539KB; 61pp.) and in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards for Grades Seven Through Twelve (PDF; 2MB; 441pp).
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Resources to help teach science are provided below.
California Department of Education Resources
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External Resources
- ASSET Inc (Outside Source). (Achieving Student Success Through Excellence in Teaching) is an independent, nonprofit education reform initiative dedicated to continual improvement of the teaching and learning process. Initial efforts are in K-8 science and technology education.
- California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN) (Outside Source) links to a consortium of environmental educators from California state agencies who supply environmental educational services, materials, and programs.
- California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) (Outside Source)
- California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) (Outside Source) provides standards-based kindergarten through grade twelve curriculum, information, and assistance for schools and districts on integrated waste management.
- California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) Network (Outside Source) is a statewide project, providing educators with high-quality environmental education resources. See the CREEC Resource Directory (Outside Source) to access a searchable database of resources in your county, region, or statewide.
- California Student Assessment Project (PDF; Outside Source) is a State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER) document about the effects of environment-based education on student achievement.
- Compendium for Energy Resources (PDF; Outside Source) is an easy-to-use guide to environmental education materials focusing on energy resources.
- Consumers Guide to Afterschool Science Resources (Outside Source) provides guidance and tips grounded in classroom experience, scaffolding strategies for differentiated instruction, techniques and accommodations for fair and accurate classroom assessment, and excerpts of lessons. A free chapter on assessing English learners is available on the linked site.
- Education and the Environment Initiative (Outside Source) seeks to bring education about the environment into school districts using the Model Curriculum Plan and California's Environmental Principles and Concepts.
- Environmental Education Grant Program (EEGP) has the primary purpose of supporting programs and projects that will result in long-term educational benefits to all California educators and/or students. For an application, go to State Priority Grant Guidelines for Application (Outside Source).
- Environmental Education Special Events (Outside Source)—shows statewide environmental education events, including events such as educator fairs and conferences.
- NAEP science test results (Outside Source)
- National Association of Rocketry (Outside Source) provides resources and help for local science clubs or classrooms to design rocket experiments.
- National Science Teachers Association (Outside Source)
- Reading Science for Understanding in Middle and High School (Outside Source) (an archived event from SchoolsMovingUp)
- Resources for teaching science to students with disabilities (Outside Source)
- State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER) (Outside Source) is a cooperative endeavor of 16 state departments of education working to enhance student achievement through environment-based education.
- Taking Science to School—Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (Outside Source). Richard A. Duschl, Heidi A. Schweingruber, and Andrew W. Shouse, editors. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2007.
- “The Mystery of Teaching Science . . . Solved!” (Outside Source) Christian Science Monitor.com, December 1, 2005.
- Virtual Science (Outside Source) (Chabot Space & Science Center’s online exhibits)
- WestEd: Making Science Accessible to English Learners: A Guidebook for Teachers (Outside Source) provides guidance and tips grounded in classroom experience, scaffolding strategies for differentiated instruction, techniques and accommodations for fair and accurate classroom assessment, and excerpts from lessons.
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History-social science instruction
Footnotes
1Science Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 539 KB; 61pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2000, p. 2.
2The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2005 (PDF; Outside Source). Washington, D.C.: the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, May 2006.
3“Schools Chief Jack O’Connell Comments on 2005 NAEP Science Report,” Press Release
No. 58. Sacramento: California Department of Education, May 24, 2006.
4California Science Content Standards, Grade 8.
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