K-12 Standards Section

(PDF of the complete K-12 Science Standard)  

Key Design Elements:

• The Science Standard was written for ALL K-12 students (page viii)
• Science instruction must begin at the early grades and progress to more sophisticated understandings at higher grades (page viii)
  • Concepts are designed to spiral or scaffold across grades within a larger grade band (pages xx-xxi)
  • Major science concepts/understandings need to be developed over an entire K-12 education (page viii)
• The Science Standard was designed for three-dimensional instruction
  • The six strands and five unifying concepts are intended to be taught together, to represent the true nature of science (page x)
  • Unifying  concepts develop across all grades, connect science disciplines, and connect science to other disciplines (page viii)
  • Strands 4, 5, and 6 are not intended to be taught in isolation; Strands 1, 2, and 3 are designed to be taught and embedded within each of the content strands (page x)
• The Science Standard was designed to build conceptual understanding of core ideas and practices in science
  • The core ideas associated with each strand are summarized (pages xi- xii)
  • Each strand is divided into concepts; the core idea of each concept is summarized (pages xiii-xviii)
  • Performance objectives provide specific knowledge and skills to build deeper understanding of the concepts and/or strands
  • Performance objectives may be combined and taught in any order; teachers should decide how to best organize the content to meet the needs of their students (page x)
• Teachers are encouraged to integrate writing, math, social studies, technology and other academic standards with the Science Standard (page xii)