California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Science instruction

The Science Content Standards for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 354KB; 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—earth science, life science, and physical science focus (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 I&E standards describe learning that "should be integral to, and directly and specifically support, the teaching of the content strands and disciplines."1

The 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment was administered to students in grades four, eight, and twelve in schools throughout the country from January to March 2009. The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009—State Snapshot Report (PDF; Outside Source) showed that only 30 percent of eighth-grade students scored at the proficient level or above in science. Results also showed that the average score of California’s eighth grade students was 137; this was lower than the national average of 148.2

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) science test mandate requires states to test students in science once a year in grades three through twelve. California has been testing eighth grade science on the California Standards Tests (CSTs) since 2006 (California Department of Education August 16, 2010 News Release, Table 12), and 59 percent of eighth graders scored at the proficient level or above in 2010. In contrast, 29 percent of California’s eighth-grade students scored below basic on the Science 2009 NAEP. Additional results appear in The Nation's Report Card: Science 2009—National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at Grades 4, 8, and 12 (PDF; Outside Source).

This mandate means that all students need access to science classes that will prepare them for the required tests. To help middle grades educators prepare their students, the California Department of Education developed the California Standards Test, Released Test Questions, Introduction - Grade 8 Science (PDF; 2.6MB; 21pp.) from 2006 through 2008.

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, 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, 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;"3

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.

 

 

Project QuEST—Quality English and Science Teaching is a research project that explores a systematic intervention model developing science content while strengthening language and literacy skills for English learners in the middle grades. The project research is designed by Diane August, Ph.D., at the Center for Applied Linguistics.

Many science teachers enhance lab experiments by using technology applications including: 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 for California Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 354KB; 61pp.) and in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards for Grades Seven Through Twelve (PDF; 2.13MB; 441pp).

Back to Top

Related Links

Previous
Algebra

Next
History-social science instruction

Footnotes
1Science Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 354 KB; 61pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2000,. 2.
2The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009—National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4, 8, and 12 (PDF; Outside Source). Washington, D.C.: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), U.S. Department of Education.
3Science Content Standards for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, (PDF; 354 KB; 61pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2000, 26.

Back to Top