Download Science College Board Standards for College Success™

Science College Board Standards for College Success™
GOAL: Students Engage in the Practice of Science
Competence in science requires the application and integration of content knowledge, experimental and mathematical
procedures, and symbolic representations in order to interpret situations and solve scientific problems. Students
should be expected to apply their science content knowledge by engaging in practices that are similar to those used by
scientists in their work. These science practices coordinate the knowledge and skills that scientists use to address a
goal or to complete a task. In the context of these standards the goal is that students establish lines of evidence and
use the evidence to develop and refine evidence-based, testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena.
Why focus on science practices instead of the scientific method?
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Reflect the authentic, iterative, and dynamic nature of science
Capture the necessary aspects of science reasoning that are necessary for building, justifying, and evaluating
evidenced-based, testable explanations and predictions
Represent multiple ways of knowing science in order to better understand the natural world; allow teachers and
students to engage in practices that are used by scientists in different science disciplines
By focusing on science practices related to the development of evidence-based explanations, teachers can address
other important aspects of science learning, such as revising students’ alternative conceptions about natural
phenomena, developing their modeling skills, and promoting conceptual change
Science practices must be taught and learned within the context of discipline-specific science content; therefore
their use promotes the integration of content knowledge and skills
Steps of the Scientific Method
• Ask a question or state the problem.
• Gather information and conduct background
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research.
Construct a hypothesis.
Test hypothesis by performing an
experiment.
Analyze and interpret data.
Draw a conclusion.
Communicate results then retest.
College Board Science Practice Standards
• Recognize, formulate, and revise scientific
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questions; justify predictions.
Gather, record and analyze data and
observations to find patterns and distinguish
data; determine what data and observations can
be used as evidence.
Construct, justify, evaluate, compare, and
contrast scientific explanations; construct,
evaluate, use, and revise representations and
models.
Make connections and identify patterns among
different data sets.
Comparison of the Scientific Method and the College Board Science Practices
Scientific Method
Science Practices
Focus on a sequence of steps to perform an experiment
(hypothesis-experiment-conclusion)
Emphasizes an individualized, rigid list of skills: asking a
question; gathering data; constructing a hypothesis;
performing an experiment; analyzing and interpreting data;
drawing conclusions; communicating results
Difficult to transfer to real-world scenarios and even some
science disciplines (e.g., astronomy); presents skills and
content separately; does not stress iterative nature of
science
Suggests a preferred sequence, with a starting point and an
ending point
Focus on establishing lines of evidence to develop and refine
evidence-based, testable explanations and predictions of
natural phenomena
Emphasize the integration of content knowledge and skills by
interpreting situations, making inferences, justifying
predictions, developing evidence-based explanations of natural
phenomena, and participating productively in science practices
and discourse
Integrate with discipline-specific concepts to show how
knowledge was discovered and continues to be refined
No definite starting or ending point; do not focus only on
investigations; more closely models all aspects of the
scientific community
Example of the Integration of Content Knowledge and Science Practices:
Investigates whether solubility of a salt that hydrolyzes (e.g., ammonium chloride, sodium acetate) is a chemical or physical change.
• Formulates a question about the difference between chemical and physical changes. (Scientific Questions and Predictions)
• Plans an investigation and determines which evidence addresses the question. (Data Analysis and Evidence)
• Gathers and records data and observations about the process of solution of a salt. (Data Analysis and Evidence)
• Organizes the data and observations in order to present the results. (Data Analysis and Evidence; Quantitative Applications)
• Makes a claim, using data and observations, about whether the process of solution of the salt is a chemical or physical change.
(Scientific Explanations, Models, and Representations)
Standards Pathway to College Readiness
Earth Science
Earth Science
AP Environmental
Science
Life Science
AP Biology
Chemistry
AP Chemistry
Physics
AP Physics
Life Science
Physical Science
6-8 Grade Band
9-12 Grade Band
AP Courses
Science
College
Board Standards for College Success™
SAMPLE of DRAFT EARTH
SCIENCE
STANDARD
WILL BE AVAILABLE: July 2009
The College Board would like to present preliminary information about the
Science College Board Standards for College Success™
Quick Facts :
1 Includes: Discipline- Specific Standards, Science Practice Standards, Themes Standards, and Technology Standards
2 Disciplines Include: 6 -12 Earth Science, 6 -12 Life Science, 6 -8 Physical Science,
9 -12 Chemistry, 9 -12 Physics
3 Prepares all students for success in AP science courses or introductory college level science courses
4 Establishes a rigorous pathway that emphasizes student use of knowledge and connections within and among discipline
5 Narrows breadth by focusing on the essential principles and concepts that have the greatest impact on student succe
in college level science courses
6 Performance expectations are the integration of the discipline knowledge, science practices, and themes of science
Prepares students for the recently reviewed and revised AP Science Courses
Science Practices Align to AP
Shows the Target AP Course
Content for Each Objective
Example
Objective C.2.3
Student knows that matter is
conserved whenever any change occurs.
Prepares students for:
AP Chemistry 1A, 1E, 3A, 3C
AP Environmental Science 3A, 3C
**1A, 1E, etc. are codes for the
enduring understandings of the AP
Course. A summary of each enduring
understanding will be located in the
appendices of the Standards.
Standards
Questions & Predictions
Data Analysis
Science College
Board
Standards for
College
Success™
Explanations
Representations
AP Courses The student can…
- use representations and models to communicate scientific
phenomena and solve scientific problems
- use mathematics appropriately
- engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to
guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
- plan and implement data collection strategies in relation
to a particular scientific question
- perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence
- work with scientific explanations and theories
- connect and relate knowledge across various scales,
concepts, and representations across domains
Conceptual Frameworks Focus on Core Principles
Life Science Standards
Evolution
Cells
Matter and Energy
Interdependence
Information Transfer
AP Biology
Evolution
Homeostasis, Energy, Matter
Information Transfer
Interactions of Biological Systems
…etc.
Standard Dynamic and interacting processes shape and order Earth.
Objective Student knows that tectonic plates interact along their boundaries, resulting in folding, faulting, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
6TH –
8TH GRADE ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE STATEMENTS
For more information on the Science College Board Standards for College Success™ Student knows, applies, and reasons about the following concepts:
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Cindy Hamen Farrar ([email protected]) Chris Lazzaro ([email protected]) Danielle Luisier ([email protected]) Tectonic processes create distinct landforms,
such as mountains and valleys. Most volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur in
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distinctive zones that are concentrated along plate boundaries.
Types of plate boundaries include divergent, convergent, and transform (transcurrent). Some plate boundaries result in the