National Science Standards

National Research Council National Science Education Standards (1996)

Executive Summary

Reference: National Research Council (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

The e-Mission format conceived by the Challenger Center at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV, is a proven, exciting tool for presenting fundamental science concepts. During their preparation for the e-Mission, students learn the following concepts and processes (pp. 115-119):

Systems, Order, and Organization:
Some of the fundamental concepts that underlie this standard are:

• A system is an organized group of related objects or components that form a whole. Systems can coexist.
  Systems have boundaries, components, resources flow (input and output), and feedback.
• Being able to think and analyze in terms of systems.
• An understanding of regularities in systems, and by extension, the universe; they then can develop understanding of basic laws, theories, and models that explain the world.
• An assumption of order establishes the basis for cause-effect relationships and predictions.
• Probability is the relative certainty (or uncertainty) that individuals can assign to selected events happening (or not happening) in a specified space or time.
  

   

Evidence, Models, and Explanation:
Some of the fundamental concepts that underlie this standard are:

• Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations.
• Using evidence to understand interactions allows individuals to predict changes in natural and designed systems.
• Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and that have explanatory power.
• Models help scientists and engineers understand how things work.
• Models take many forms, including physical objects, plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer simulations.
• Scientific explanations incorporate existing scientific knowledge and new evidence from observations, experiments, or models into internally consistent, logical statements.
• Different terms, such as "hypothesis," "model," "law," "principle," "theory," and "paradigm" are used to describe various types of scientific explanations.
• Scientific explanations should more frequently include a rich scientific knowledge base, evidence of logic, higher levels of analysis, greater tolerance of criticism and uncertainty, and a clearer demonstration of the relationship between logic, evidence, and current knowledge.

Constancy, Channge, and Measurement:
Some of the fundamental concepts that underlie this standard are:

• Interactions within and among systems result in change.
• Changes in systems can be quantified.
• Evidence for interactions and subsequent change and the formulation of scientific explanations are often clarified through quantitative distinctions-measurement.
• Mathematics is essential for accurately measuring change.
• Different systems of measurement are used for different purposes.

 

Content Standards

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of:

3. Natural hazards

a) Internal and external processes of the earth system cause natural hazards, events that change or destroy human and wildlife habitats, damage property, and harm or kill humans. Natural hazards include earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, floods, storms, and even possible impacts of asteroids.

b) Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.

c) Natural hazards can present personal and societal challenges because misidentifying the change or incorrectly estimating the rate and scale of change may result in either too little attention and significant human costs or too much cost for unneeded preventive measures.

4. Risks and benefits

a) Risk analysis considers the type of hazard and estimates the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer consequences. The results are used to determine the options for reducing or eliminating risks.

b) Students should understand the risks associated with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions), with chemical hazards (pollutants in air, water, soil, and food), with biological hazards (pollen, viruses, bacterial, and parasites), social hazards (occupational safety and transportation), and with personal hazards (smoking, dieting, and drinking).

c) Individuals can use a systematic approach to thinking critically about risks and benefits. Examples include applying probability estimates to risks and comparing them to estimated personal and social benefits.

d) Important personal and social decisions are made based on perceptions of benefits and risks.

5. Science and technology in society

e) Scientists and engineers work in many different settings, including colleges and universities, businesses and industries, specific research institutes, and government agencies.

Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop:

1. Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

c) Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.

d) Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.

e) Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.

h) Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

2. Understandings about scientific inquiry

a) Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.

b) Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations. Different scientific domains employ different methods, core theories, and standards to advance scientific knowledge and understanding.

c) Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.

d) Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.

Life Science
As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of:

4. Populations and ecosystems

a) A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.

b) Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. Plants and some micro-organisms are producers—they make their own food. All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.

c) For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs.

d) The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.

Earth and Space Science
As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of:

1. Structure of the earth system

a) The solid earth is layered with a lithosphere; hot, convecting mantle; and dense, metallic core.

b) Lithospheric plates on the scales of continents and oceans constantly move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle. Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from these plate motions.

c) Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment, while destructive forces include weathering and erosion.

d) Some changes in the solid earth can be described as the "rock cycle." Old rocks at the earth's surface weather, forming sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock. Eventually, those new rocks may be brought to the surface by the forces that drive plate motions, and the rock cycle continues.

e) Soil consists of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material from dead plants, animals, and bacteria. Soils are often found in layers, with each having a different chemical composition and texture.

f) Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.

g) Water is a solvent. As it passes through the water cycle it dissolves minerals and gases and carries them to the oceans.

h) The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations.

i) Clouds, formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.

j) Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.

k) Living organisms have played many roles in the earth system, including affecting the composition of the atmosphere, producing some types of rocks, and contributing to the weathering of rocks.

Science and Technology
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop:

2. Understandings about science and technology

c) Technology is essential to science, because it provides instruments and techniques that enable observations of objects and phenomena that are otherwise unobservable due to factors such as quantity, distance, location, size, and speed. Technology also provides tools for investigations, inquiry, and analysis.

 

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National Math Standards (grades 6-8)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Challenger e-Mission addresses the following standards:

1. Number and Operations Standard

B. Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another.

C. Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.

2. Algebra Standard

C. Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships.

1. Model and solve contextualized problems using various representations, such as graphs, tables, and equations.

D. Analyze change in various contexts.

1. Use graphs to analyze the nature of changes in quantities in linear relationships.

3. Geometry Standard

D. Use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems.

2. Use two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects to visualize and solve problems such as those involving surface area and volume.

4. Measurement Standard

A. Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement.

2. Understand relationships among units and convert from one unit to another within the same system.

B. Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.

6. Solve simple problems involving rates and derived measurements for such attributes as velocity and density.

5. Data Analysis and Probability Standard

A. Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them

2. Select, create, and use appropriate graphical representations of data, including histograms, box plots, and scatterplots.

C. Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data.

6. Problem Solving Standard

A. Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving.

B. Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts.

C. Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems.

D. Monitor and reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving.

8. Communication Standard

A. Organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication

B. Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others.

D. Use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely.

9. Connections Standard

C. Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.

10. Representation Standard

A. Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas.

B. Select, apply, and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems.

C. Use representations to model and interpret physical, social, and mathematical phenomena.

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National Geography Standards (Grades 6-8)

Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

Challenger e-Mission addresses the following Geography standards.

1. Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographic tools and technologies.

F. Knows how maps help to find patterns of movement in space and time (e.g., mapping hurricane tracks over several seasons, mapping the spread of influenza throughout the world).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 145 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, p. 53 (Implied)

4. Understands the physical and human characteristics of place.

B. Knows the physical characteristics of places (e.g., soils, landforms, vegetation, wildlife, climate, natural hazards).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 150 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, p. 61 (Explicitly stated)

D. Knows the causes and effects of changes in a place over time (e.g., physical changes such as forest cover, water distribution, temperature fluctuations; human changes such as urban growth, the clearing of forests, development of transportation systems).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, pp. 150-151 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp.56, 57 (Implied)

7. Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on Earth's surface.

C. Knows the consequences of a specific physical process operating on Earth's surface (e.g., effects of an extreme weather phenomenon such as a hurricane's impact on a coastal ecosystem, effects of heavy rainfall on hillslopes, effects of the continued movement of Earth's tectonic plates).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 157 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp. 55-56 (Implied)

8. Understands the characteristics of ecosystems on Earth's surface.

A. Understands the distribution of ecosystems from local to global scales (e.g., the consequences of differences in soils, climates, and human and natural disturbances).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 158 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp.54, 55 (Implied)

B. Understands the functions and dynamics of ecosystems (e.g., interdependence of flora and fauna, the flow of energy and the cycling of energy, feeding levels and location of elements in the food chain).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 158 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp.59, 60 (Implied)

C. Understands ecosystems in terms of their characteristics and ability to withstand stress caused by physical events (e.g., a river system adjusting to the arrival of introduced plant species such as hydrilla; regrowth of a forest after a forest fire; effects of disease on specific populations).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 159 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, p. 56 (Implied)

D. Knows changes that have occurred over time in ecosystems in the local region (e.g., natural wetlands on a floodplain being replaced by farms, farmlands on a floodplain being replaced by housing developments).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 159 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp. 54-55 (Implied)

E. Knows the potential impact of human activities within a given ecosystem on the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles (e.g., the role of air pollution in atmospheric warming or the growing of peas and other legumes, which supply their own nitrogen and do not deplete the soil).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 159 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp. 54-55 (Implied)

 

F. Understands the life cycle of a lake ecosystem from birth to death (including the process of eutrophication).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 159 (Explicitly stated)
NAEP: Item Specifications in Geography, pp. 54-55 (Implied)

 

15. Understands how physical systems affect human systems.

A. Knows the ways in which human systems develop in response to conditions in the physical environment (e.g., patterns of land use, economic livelihoods, architectural styles of buildings, building materials, flows of traffic, recreation activities).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 173 (Explicitly stated)

E. Knows the effects of natural hazards on human systems in different regions of the United States and the world (e.g., the effect of drought on populations in Ethiopia compared with populations in Australia or the southern part of the United States).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, pp. 174-175 (Explicitly stated)

F. Knows the ways in which humans prepare for natural hazards (e.g., earthquake preparedness, constructing houses on stilts in flood-prone areas, designation of hurricane shelters and evacuation routes in hurricane-prone areas).

Declarative Knowledge
GESP: National Geography Standards, p. 175