INQUIRY AND PROCESS SKILLS

BASED ON ALL STANDARDS

It should be a goal of the instructor to foster the development of science process skills. The application of these skills allows students to investigate important issues in the world around them.

 

Inquiry-based units will include many or most of the following process skills. These process skills should be incorporated into students’ instruction as developmentally appropriate.

 

Classifying – arranging or distributing objects, events, or information representing objects or events in classes according to some method or system

 

Communicating – giving oral and written explanations or graphic representations of observations

 

Comparing and contrasting – identifying similarities and differences between or among objects, events, data, systems, etc.

 

Creating models – displaying information, using multisensory representations

 

Gathering and organizing data – collecting information about objects and events which illustrate a specific situation

 

Generalizing – drawing general conclusions from particulars

 

Identifying variables – recognizing the characteristics of objects or factors in events that are constant or change under different conditions

 

Inferring – drawing a conclusion based on prior experiences

 

Interpreting data – analyzing data that have been obtained and organized by determining apparent patterns or relationships in the data

 

Making decisions – identifying alternatives and choosing a course of action from among the alternatives after basing the judgment for the selection on justifiable reasons

 

Manipulating materials – handling or treating materials and equipment safely, skillfully, and effectively

 

Measuring – making quantitative observations by comparing to a conventional or nonconventional standard

 

Observing – becoming aware of an object or event by using any of the senses (or extensions of the senses) to identify properties

 

Predicting – making a forecast of future events or conditions expected to existx

PROCESS SKILLS BASED ON STANDARDS 1, 2, 6, AND 7:

 

Science process skills should be based on a series of discoveries. Students learn most effectively when they have a central role in the discovery process. To that end, Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7 incorporate in the Elementary Science Core Curriculum a student-centered, problem-solving   approach to intermediate science. The following is an expanded version of the skills found in Standards 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. This list is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the content or skills that teachers are expected to incorporate into their curriculum. It should be a goal of the instructor to encourage science process skills that will provide students with background and curiosity sufficient to prompt investigation of important issues in the world around them.

 

STANDARD 1—Analysis, Inquiry, and Design

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

 

MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS:

 

Key Idea 1:

Abstraction and symbolic representation are used to communicate mathematically.

 

Key Idea 2:

Deductive and inductive reasoning are used to reach mathematical conclusions.

 

Key Idea 3:

Critical thinking skills are used in the solution of mathematical problems.

 

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

 

Key Idea 1:

The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena

in a continuing, creative process.

 

Key Idea 2:

Beyond the use of reasoning and consensus, scientific inquiry involves the testing of proposed explanations involving the use of conventional techniques and procedures and usually requiring considerable ingenuity.

 

Key Idea 3:

The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into phenomena.

 

 

 

ENGINEERING DESIGN:

 

Key Idea 1:

Engineering design is an iterative process involving modeling and optimization (finding the best solution within given constraints); this process is used to develop technological solutions to problems within given constraints.

 

STANDARD 2—Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies

 

Key Idea 1:

Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

 

Key Idea 2:

Knowledge of the impacts and limitations of information systems is essential to its effectiveness and ethical use.

 

Key Idea 3:

Information technology can have positive and negative impacts on society, depending upon how it is used.

 

STANDARD 6—Interconnectedness: Common Themes

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

 

Key Idea 1:

Through systems thinking, people can recognize the commonalities that exist among all systems and how parts of a system interrelate and combine to perform specific functions.

 

Key Idea 2:

Models are simplified representations of objects, structures, or systems, used in analysis, explanation, or design.

 

Key Idea 3:

The grouping of magnitudes of size, time, frequency, and pressures or other units of measurement into a series of relative order provides a useful way to deal with the immense range and the changes in scale that affect behavior and design of systems.

 

Key Idea 4:

Equilibrium is a state of stability due either to a lack of changes (static equilibrium) or a balance between opposing forces (dynamic equilibrium).

 

Key Idea 5:

Identifying patterns of change is necessary for making predictions about future behavior and conditions.

 

Key Idea 6:

In order to arrive at the best solution that meets criteria within constraints, it is often necessary to make trade-offs.

 

STANDARD 7—Interdisciplinary Problem Solving

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

 

Key Idea 1:

The knowledge and skills of mathematics, science, and technology are used together to make informed decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of science/technology/society, consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into phenomena.

 

Key Idea 2:

Solving interdisciplinary problems involves a variety of skills and strategies, including effective work habits; gathering and processing information; generating and analyzing ideas; realizing ideas; making connections among the common themes of mathematics, science, and technology; and presenting results.

 

 

PROCESS SKILLS BASED ON STANDARD 4

 

Science is an ongoing process. Most often there is a question or problem that initiates an investigation searching for a possible solution or solutions. There is no single prescribed scientific method to govern an investigation. It is important that students practice the skills outlined below. For younger students, the emphasis is on discovery. For older students, the emphasis is on formulating and investigating their own questions.

 

STANDARD 4: The Physical Setting

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

 

Key Idea 1:

The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.

 

Students should observe and describe the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. The movement of these objects through space can be traced and measured over various time segments.

 

Key Idea 2:

Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among components of air, water, and land.

 

Students should observe and describe naturally occurring changes in their world involving these phenomena. They can also investigate these phenomena in classroom experiments. The water cycle, weather, erosion, deposition, and extreme natural events involve interactions among air, water,

and land.

 

Key Idea 3:

Matter is made up of particles whose properties determine the observable characteristics of matter and its reactivity.

 

Students should describe, categorize, compare, and measure observable physical properties of matter and objects. Students’ initial efforts in performing these processes may yield simple descriptions and sketches, which may lead to increasingly more detailed drawings and richer verbal descriptions. Things can be done to materials to change their properties, but not all materials respond in the same way to what is done to them. Younger students emphasize physical properties while older students will recognize chemical changes. Appropriate tools can aid students in their efforts.

 

Key Idea 4:

Energy exists in many forms, and when these forms change energy is conserved.

 

Students should understand that energy exists in a variety of forms. Students should observe the results of simple energy transformations from one form to another in their physical environment. The safe use and respect of various energy forms should be stressed in the classroom.

 

Key Idea 5:

Energy and matter interact through forces that result in changes in motion.

 

Students should be able to observe and describe relative positions between objects in their world. Exploring the observable effects of gravity and magnetism may help students develop an understanding of the reason for the direction of an object’s motion. Manipulation and application of simple tools and machines may help students learn about the relationships between forces and motion.

 

STANDARD 4: The Living Environment

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

 

Key Idea 1:

Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things.

There are basic characteristics, needs, and functions common to all living things. Nonliving things are present in nature or are made by living things.

 

Younger students’ ideas about the characteristics of organisms develop from their basic concepts of living and nonliving things. As students are given opportunities to observe and classify living and nonliving things, they should be reminded that living and nonliving things are sometimes given attributes they do not really have.

 

Understanding the variety and complexity of life and its processes can help students develop respect for their own and for all life. It should also lead them to better realize the value of all life on this fragile planet.

 

Key Idea 2:

Organisms inherit genetic information in a variety of ways that result in continuity of structure and function

between parents and offspring.

 

As students investigate the continuity of life, emphasis should be placed on how plants and animals reproduce their own kind.

 

Teachers should lead students to make observations about how the offspring of familiar animals compare to one another and to their parents. Students know that animals reproduce their own kind—rabbits have rabbits (but you can usually tell one baby from another), cats have kittens that have different markings (but cats never have puppies), and so forth. This idea should be strengthened by a large number of examples, both plant and animal, upon which the students can draw.

 

Students should move from describing individuals directly (e.g., she has blue eyes) to naming traits and classifying individuals with respect to those traits (e.g., eye color: blue). Students can be encouraged to keep lists of things that animals and plants get from their parents, things that they don’t get, and things that the students are not sure about either way.

 

Key Idea 3:

Individual organisms and species change over time.

 

Throughout time, plants and animals have changed depending on their environment. In learning how organisms have been successful in their habitats, students should observe and record information about plants and animals. They should begin to recognize how differences among individuals within a species can help an organism or population to survive. Students at this level will identify the behaviors and physical adaptations that allow organisms to survive in their environment.

 

Key Idea 4:

The continuity of life is sustained through reproduction and development

 

 

It is essential for organisms to produce offspring so that their species will continue. Patterns of reproduction, growth, and development of an organism are stages in its life cycle. Life cycle stages are sequential and occur throughout the life span of the organism. The characteristics of the cycle of life vary from organism to organism.

 

Note: Younger students may have difficulty in recognizing the continuity of life. Using organisms with a short life cycle as examples will be important in getting the concept across. It is important for younger students to observe life cycle changes in selected animals.

 

Key Idea 5:

Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.

Students need many opportunities to observe a variety of organisms for the patterns of similarities and differences of the life functions used to sustain life. All organisms carry out basic life functions in order to sustain life. These life functions include growing, taking in nutrients, breathing, reproducing, and eliminating waste. Students need many opportunities to observe and compare these similarities and differences in a variety of organisms. Specimens that could provide these opportunities may include guppies, mealworms, and gerbils, as well as fish, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, plants, and fungi.

 

Key Idea 6:

Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.

 

Plants and animals interact in a number of ways that affect their survival. The survival of plants and animals varies, in response to their particular environment. As the physical environment changes over time, plants and animals change.

 

Younger students should focus on simple, observable associations of organisms with their environments. Their studies of interactions among organisms within an environment should start with relationships they can directly observe.

 

Key Idea 7:

Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environments.

 

Humans are dependent upon and have an impact on their environment. Students should recognize how human decisions cause environmental changes to occur.

 

Students should be given opportunities to identify and investigate the factors that positively or negatively affect the physical environment and its resources.