Byram Hills Central School District

This 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 7 - Interdisciplinary Problem Solving - Elementary

Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.

Connections

1. The knowledge and skills of mathematics, science, and technology are used together to make informed decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of science/technology/society, consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into phenomena.

Students:

     analyze science/technology/society problems and issues that affect their home, school, or community, and carry out a remedial course of action.
     make informed consumer decisions by applying knowledge about the attributes of particular products and making cost/benefit tradeoffs to arrive at an optimal choice.
     design solutions to problems involving a familiar and real context, investigate related science concepts to inform the solution, and use mathematics to model, quantify, measure, and compute.
     observe phenomena and evaluate them scientifically and mathematically by conducting a fair test of the effect of variables and using mathematical knowledge and technological tools to collect, analyze, and present data and conclusions.

This is evident, for example, when students:

     develop and implement a plan to reduce water or energy consumption in their home.
     choose paper towels based on tests of absorption quality, strength, and cost per sheet.
     design a wheeled vehicle, sketch and develop plans, test different wheel and axle designs to reduce friction, chart results, and produce a working model with correct measurements.
     collect leaves of similar size from different varieties of trees, and compare the ratios of length to width in order to determine whether the ratios are the same for all species.