Science Framework, part 1 - Free Downloads (CA Dept of Education)

vForeword“The education of young people in science isat least as important, maybe more so, thanthe research itself.”—Glenn T. SeaborgIn 1998, with the adoption of theScience Content Standards for CaliforniaPublic Schools, California made acommitment that we will provide all studentsa world-class science education.Now, more than ever before, our studentsneed a high degree of science literacy. Thisupdated edition of the Science Frameworkfor California Public Schools builds on thecontent standards, provides guidance forthe education community to achieve thatobjective, and includes the 2004 evaluationcriteria for the kindergarten-throughgrade-eightinstructional materialsadopted by the State Board of Education.This framework is California’s blueprintfor our science curriculum, instruction,professional preparation and development,and instructional materials.The framework offers guidance forscience instruction in elementary, middle,and high schools. In kindergarten throughgrade five, students receive a solid foundationand acquire basic knowledge regardingphysical, life, and earth sciences as wellas learn investigation and experimentationskills.Science instruction increases in depthand complexity in the middle grades,where the emphasis is on one sciencestrand each year. In grade six, studentsfocus on earth sciences; in grade seven,on life sciences; and in grade eight, onphysical sciences. The investigation andexperimentation standards increase in sophisticationin the middle grades and requirestudents to formulate a hypothesisfor the first time, communicate the logicalconnections among hypotheses, and applytheir knowledge of mathematics to analyzeand report on data from their experiments.At the high school level, science contentis presented as four separate strands—physics, chemistry, biology/life sciences,and earth sciences—each providing studentsthe rigor they need to prepare forcollegiate-level study and career pathways.Both the content standards and the frameworkare designed so that the standardscan be organized either as strand-specificcourses or as courses that draw contentfrom several strands. The high school investigationand experimentation standardsensure that students have experience in alaboratory setting.The framework addresses a numberof audiences—teachers, administrators,instructional materials developers, professionaldevelopment providers, parents,guardians, and students. It makes the importantpoint that science education musttake place in conjunction with other coresubjects, not in isolation from them.This document establishes guidingprinciples that define the attributes of aquality science curriculum at all grade levels.The framework reflects the fundamentalbelief that all students can acquire thescience knowledge and skills needed tosucceed in the world that awaits them.JACK O’CONNELLState Superintendent of Public InstructionRUTH E. GREENPresident, California State Board of Education