To educate students who are able to:
- Experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the natural world;
- Use appropriate scientific processes and principles in making personal decisions;
- Engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about matters of scientific and technological concerns; and
- Increase their economic productivity through the use of knowledge, understanding, and skills of the scientifically literate
person in their careers.
The science curriculum outlined in the National Science standards includes the science context of the History and Nature of Science and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives. Four content areas include Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Science and Technology. The processes of Unifying Concepts and Processes and Science as Inquiry are woven throughout the curriculum.
Science instruction is characterized by experiential learning. Science learning is something students do, not something done to them. Teachers guide, focus, challenge and encourage student learning.
Some of the important beliefs of the science curriculum are specified in the National Science Standards as follows.
- Working together, people can figure out how the world works.
- The universe is a unified system - knowing about one part of it can often be applied to other parts.
- Knowledge is both stable and subject to change.
The following overview provides a description of the science curriculum at various grade levels.
