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information has been taken directly from the Accelerate
U - Standards and Resource Guides (with approval) from the K-12
Education, NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT site. No information
in this document has been changed.
Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and
Technology at Three Levels
Standard 1: Commencement
Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and
engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers,
and develop solutions.
Scientific Inquiry
1. The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations
of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.
Students:
- elaborate on basic scientific and personal explanations of
natural phenomena, and develop extended visual models and mathematical
formulations to represent their thinking.
- hone ideas through reasoning, library research, and discussion
with others, including experts.
- work toward reconciling competing explanations; clarifying
points of agreement and disagreement.
- coordinate explanations at different levels of scale, points
of focus, and degrees of complexity and specificity and recognize
the need for such alternative representations of the natural world.
This is evident, for example, when students:
- in small groups, are asked to explain why a cactus plant requires
much less water to survive than many other plants. They are asked
to develop, through research, a set of explanations for the differences
and to select at least one for study. After the proposed explanation
is critiqued by others, they refine it by formulating a hypothesis
which is rated on clarity, plausibility, and researchability.
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.
Students:
- devise ways of making observations to test proposed explanations.
- refine their research ideas through library investigations,
including electronic information retrieval and reviews of the
literature, and through peer feedback obtained from review and
discussion.
- develop and present proposals including formal hypotheses to
test their explanations, i.e., they predict what should be observed
under specified conditions if the explanation is true.
- carry out their research plan for testing explanations, including
selecting and developing techniques, acquiring and building apparatus,
and recording observations as necessary.
This is evident, for example, when students:
- develop, through research, a proposal to test their hypothesis
of why a cactus plant requires much less water to survive than
many other plants. After their proposal is critiqued, it is refined
and submitted for assessment by a panel of students. The proposal
is rated on clarity, appropriateness, and feasibility. Upon approval,
students complete the research. Progress is rated holistically
by the teacher
3. The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when
analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights
into phenomena.
Students:
- use various means of representing and organizing observations
(e.g., diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, equations, matrices)
and insightfully interpret the organized data.
- apply statistical analysis techniques when appropriate to test
if chance alone explains the result.
- assess correspondence between the predicted result contained
in the hypothesis and the actual result and reach a conclusion
as to whether or not the explanation on which the prediction was
based is supported.
- based on the results of the test and through public discussion,
they revise the explanation and contemplate additional research.
- develop a written report for public scrutiny that describes
their proposed explanation, including a literature review, the
research they carried out, its result, and suggestions for further
research.
This is evident, for example, when students:
- carry out a research plan, including keeping a lab book, to
test their hypothesis of why a cactus plant requires much less
water to survive than many other plants. After completion, a paper
is presented describing the research. Based on the class critique,
the paper is rewritten and submitted with the lab book for separate
assessment or as part of a portfolio of their science work. It
is rated for clarity, thoroughness, soundness of conclusions,
and quality of integration with existing literature.
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