Standards

We share the goals of the National Science Education Standards. The focus is on our students and 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 concern; and
• increase their economic productivity through the use of the knowledge, understanding, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers.

Students learn science by becoming actively engaged in inquiries that are interesting and important to them. By carefully planning an inquiry centered science program, connections in all content areas are made easily. This increases learning, makes learning real, makes it understandable, and students will make the new knowledge their own.

The vision set forth in the National Science Education Standards, Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy, and the Pennsylvania Standards focus on an inquiry centered classroom. Inquiry cannot be taught without content, and content cannot be taught meaningfully without the utilization of inquiry. Therefore, we believe that all standards must be utilized in the development of an effective science education program.

The National Science Education Standards include:

• Teaching Standards
• Standards for Professional Development
• Assessment in Science Education
• Science Content Standards
• Science Education Program Standards
• Science Education System Standards

It is imperative that all the Standards be addressed for an effective inquiry centered science program. By ignoring one or more of the Standards, the program developed will not be as effective.

The Pennsylvania Standards documents continue this vision by focusing on Unifying Themes, Inquiry, and Content.

The different Standards documents are located in the Standards Folder on the CD, or can be accessed online.

Pennsylvania Academic Standards

National Science Education Standards

Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy

National Council for Teachers of Mathematics Standards

For further information regarding the implementation of the Standards and connecting all standards, Building a Presence has numerous individuals available with the expertise to work with districts implementing inquiry centered, standards based science programs.