A
major role of science educators is to help children develop the
skills of observation, analysis, and interpretation as they
investigate the world around them. Educators must prepare students
to become effective problem solvers while working on their own, or
with others. Integral to this discovery process is the necessity of
developing investigative skills and applying those skills to
content.Inquiry in the field of science is limitless. It requires knowledge, imagination, inventiveness, experimenting, and the use of logic and evidence to support results. As students observe the world around them, their natural inquisitiveness will evoke more questions about what they see and think.
Scientific inquiry involves students in framing questions, designing research approaches and instruments, conducting trial runs, writing reports, and communicating results. Definite skills need to be acquired, utilized, and developed to facilitate this process. However, the process of science is not random. Once a question is posed, the search for answers follows a sequence of experimentation, collecting data, analysis, and the drawing of conclusions, which may lead to new questions. Different results backed by valid evidence legitimize different explanations for the same observations. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic laws which govern and explain phenomena observed in the natural world, as well as utilize learned skills necessary to gather those observations.
Synthesizing information the student has gathered, and developing the ability to communicate and receive technological information should also be essential components of a science education. Quantitative thinking enables an individual to better state his arguments in a manner that is more difficult to dispute. To use numbers and units to describe an object can be much more effective than to just describe it as” immense” or “quick,” for example.
In this day and age where individuals are constantly bombarded with claims: claims about products, about their health and welfare, about what happened in the past and what will occur in the future, it is imperative that our students develop critical - response skills. These are skills that will enable individuals who are science literate to make qualified judgments. The use or misuse of supporting evidence, the language used and the logic of the argument are all important considerations in judging how seriously to take some claims.
Our curriculum represents the best thinking of science educators and curriculum experts. They were developed from sources both inside and outside the United States, as well as from the National Science Education Standards and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In keeping with the teachings of the Catholic Church, students will learn to appreciate the earth and recognize the interconnectedness of living things to each other and to the environment. They will face complex questions requiring scientific thinking, reasoning, and the ability to make informed decisions.
This curriculum represents what we expect children to be able to achieve at various levels of their education, from Pre-Kindergarten through Middle School. The difficulty of the material presented, the complexity of what students do with the material, and the sophistication of their skills change as students grow older.
Scientific Inquiry and Reasoning (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: Young students are already curious about the
world around them as evidenced by their continual questioning and
their eagerness to count and organize things and tell stories about
what they observe. Such dispositions and behaviors predispose them
to view the world scientifically. By communicating what they see,
think and wonder about, students are already learning a great deal
about what it means to do scientific inquiry.
Lower School: By the end of third grade, students understand that science involves asking and answering questions and comparing the results to what is already known. They are beginning to understand that scientific inquiry has produced much knowledge about the world, that much is still unknown, and that some things will always be unknown. Demonstrating an interest in exploring and understanding their world, students are able to conduct scientific experiments, make predictions about what they think will happen, and even make simple conclusions from data gathered. By the end of fifth grade, students begin the specialized study of the different scientific disciplines while reinforcing the general intellectual habits acquired previously. By the time students move on to middle school, they are able to demonstrate the scientific process and scientific thinking, demonstrate scientific attitudes and interests, demonstrate knowledge of scientific concepts and principles, demonstrate effective communication using scientific language and reasoning and demonstrate awareness of the social and historical significance of science.
Middle School: By Middle School, the study of science has become specialized according to course breakdown. Nonetheless, as they move through the individual subjects, students are still working in the fundamentals of scientific thinking that underlie the disciplines. By the time they leave middle school, they will be able to apply different problem solving strategies, construct problems for scientific exploration making predictions about the results, devise and conduct a scientific investigation, identify the variables, use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, organize, and conduct research, demonstrate appropriate safety skills in the lab and in the field, compare and approximate large and small numbers, use appropriate measurement units, e.g. System International d’Unites, organize information in simple graphs and tables and identify relationships they reveal, develop simple models to help explain observations, work in small groups while investigating problems, but form own conclusions, discuss the relationship between evidence and explanations, identify alternative explanations, explain scientific procedures and methods, create hypotheses and simple experiments to test those hypotheses, recognize the variables in a situation and the importance of controlling them while conducting a scientific investigation, and search for information comparing past and present scientific ideas and theories.
Lower School: By the end of third grade, students understand that science involves asking and answering questions and comparing the results to what is already known. They are beginning to understand that scientific inquiry has produced much knowledge about the world, that much is still unknown, and that some things will always be unknown. Demonstrating an interest in exploring and understanding their world, students are able to conduct scientific experiments, make predictions about what they think will happen, and even make simple conclusions from data gathered. By the end of fifth grade, students begin the specialized study of the different scientific disciplines while reinforcing the general intellectual habits acquired previously. By the time students move on to middle school, they are able to demonstrate the scientific process and scientific thinking, demonstrate scientific attitudes and interests, demonstrate knowledge of scientific concepts and principles, demonstrate effective communication using scientific language and reasoning and demonstrate awareness of the social and historical significance of science.
Middle School: By Middle School, the study of science has become specialized according to course breakdown. Nonetheless, as they move through the individual subjects, students are still working in the fundamentals of scientific thinking that underlie the disciplines. By the time they leave middle school, they will be able to apply different problem solving strategies, construct problems for scientific exploration making predictions about the results, devise and conduct a scientific investigation, identify the variables, use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, organize, and conduct research, demonstrate appropriate safety skills in the lab and in the field, compare and approximate large and small numbers, use appropriate measurement units, e.g. System International d’Unites, organize information in simple graphs and tables and identify relationships they reveal, develop simple models to help explain observations, work in small groups while investigating problems, but form own conclusions, discuss the relationship between evidence and explanations, identify alternative explanations, explain scientific procedures and methods, create hypotheses and simple experiments to test those hypotheses, recognize the variables in a situation and the importance of controlling them while conducting a scientific investigation, and search for information comparing past and present scientific ideas and theories.
Scientific Thinking and Communication (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: To help prepare students for their study of
Earth and space, teachers begin to acquaint students with basic
concepts by providing opportunities for them to experience and
discuss the natural world. Students learn to recognize basic
features of the earth (rock, soil, solids, and water) and their
common uses, recognize basic phenomena and changes in the sky
(e.g., movement of clouds, sunrise and sunset, moon phases, stars),
recognize that events in nature have a repeating pattern (e.g., sun
rises and sets, seasons, etc.), recognize that there are different
weather patterns, seasons, and climates and recognize basic parts
of the solar system (sun, earth, planets, and moon).
Lower School: By the end of third grade, students understand that science involves asking and answering questions and comparing the results to what is already known. They are beginning to understand that scientific inquiry has produced much knowledge about the world, that much is still unknown, and that some things will always be unknown. Demonstrating an interest in exploring and understanding their world, students are able to conduct scientific experiments, make predictions about what they think will happen, and even make simple conclusions from data gathered. Students are exposed to scientific collaboration, scientific instruments, and the organization of data and are able to communicate their findings in oral and written format. By the end of lower school, students have begun their study of specialized science with a focus on the fundamental topics of earth and life science as well as the systematic acquisition of specific skills required for the scientific process.
Middle School: Having completed their work on the basics of the scientific process, students move into the study of specific disciplines of earth science (sixth grade), life science (seventh grade) and physical science (eighth grade).
Lower School: By the end of third grade, students understand that science involves asking and answering questions and comparing the results to what is already known. They are beginning to understand that scientific inquiry has produced much knowledge about the world, that much is still unknown, and that some things will always be unknown. Demonstrating an interest in exploring and understanding their world, students are able to conduct scientific experiments, make predictions about what they think will happen, and even make simple conclusions from data gathered. Students are exposed to scientific collaboration, scientific instruments, and the organization of data and are able to communicate their findings in oral and written format. By the end of lower school, students have begun their study of specialized science with a focus on the fundamental topics of earth and life science as well as the systematic acquisition of specific skills required for the scientific process.
Middle School: Having completed their work on the basics of the scientific process, students move into the study of specific disciplines of earth science (sixth grade), life science (seventh grade) and physical science (eighth grade).
Middle School Science Skills (Click for More...)
Now that students have begun their study of the specific
disciplines in middle school, they will continue to develop and
apply the fundamental skills of scientific thinking and problem
solving to each discipline. Students are taught to demonstrate an
increasing understanding of science while developing proficiency in
scientific skills and procedures, develop an ability to think as
well as communicate in scientific and technological terms, exhibit
proficiency in gathering and using research and develop critical
response skills to be utilized in everyday life.
Grade 6: Earth Science
Students will investigate and understand the structure of the
earth, investigate and understand important aspects in the
development of Earth, investigate and understand Earth’s natural
resources, understand that oceans are complex, interactive,
physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to
long-term and short-term variations, understand concepts of energy
transfer between the sun and Earth, how Earth’s atmosphere
determines weather and climate on Earth, understand ecology and
that the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support
depends on the resources available, understand essential ideas
about the composition and structure of the universe, including the
planets and other members of the solar system and Earth’s place
within it and understand how to read maps, globes, models, charts,
and imagery.
Grade 7: Life Science
Students will investigate and understand that all living organisms
have basic needs that must be met in order to carry out life
processes, the general structure and function of cells in
organisms, how organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups
and subgroups based on similarities, the nature of plants and
animals, the nature of the human body, including the body systems
and their functions, the importance of good health and the nature
of diseases and chronic disorders, that organisms reproduce and
transmit genetic information to new generations and how species
depend on one another and on the environment for survival.
Grade 8: Physical Science
Students will investigate and understand the basic concepts,
structures and properties of matter, the basic concepts of
chemistry, scientific principles and technological applications of
motion, force, and work, states and forms of energy, basic
principles of electricity and magnetism, the nature of electronic
devices, the characteristics of sound and that sound is an example
of vibrations, called waves, and the nature of light and that light
interacts with matter by transmission, absorption, or scattering.